The benefits of earning a No. 1 seed are obvious, but Michigan seemed to get about the best possible outcome with its first round draw. As the fourth-overall seed, it would be expected that the Wolverines would face the “best” No. 16 seed per the committee’s complete seed list. However, that is not what happened.
Instead, Michigan will face either Mount St. Mary’s, the 65th-overall seed, or Texas Southern, the 66th-overall seed, meaning the Wolverines got a slightly worse opponent than expected (with the No. 67 and No. 68 teams in the other play-in game).